Just One Night (3 page)

Addison ran a finger along the scruffy edge of his jaw. “You go back first,” she said. “I’ll follow in a few.”

He stared at her, something flashing in those dark eyes. Taking her hands, he squeezed them once. He frowned but nodded in agreement.

When he closed the door behind himself, even though it was still warm in the poorly-ventilated space, Addy shivered.

She smoothed her dress and searched for her panties. She spotted two scraps of lace on the desk and groaned at the memory. He tore off her panties. Ripped them in two. Manly man, indeed.

Meow
.

She tossed the ruined panties in the trash and waited a few minutes before heading back. The click of her heels on the metal stairs echoed through the empty garage as she descended, a stupid grin on her face.

As she slipped outside, the sun was beginning to set, and in the distance, she could hear the boisterous sound of Big Band music.

Something like hope fluttered in her stomach, and she pushed it away.

Just one night
, she reminded herself, taking a deep breath and heading into the fray.

“There’s my girl,” her father called from the bar. He took a sip of dark liquid—bourbon, no doubt.

“Hi, Daddy.” She crossed to him and leaned her head on his big shoulder. Her father was a big man in stature and presence. His laughter could fill a room and so could his anger. As a little girl she’d equal parts feared and adored him. As a woman, not much had changed.

“Stacey was looking for you,” he told her. “You missed the bouquet toss.”

She wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed. “I may have gone missing on purpose,” she admitted with a grin. “If I catch a bouquet, Mom will be picking out dresses and interviewing caterers.”

He chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and squeezing. “Smart girl. You’re not allowed to get married until you’re thirty.”

She raised a brow. “That seems a little young considering, last I checked, I’m not allowed to date until forty?”

“Good point. No jerk is going to put his hands on my baby girl.” He took another sip of his bourbon and grinned. “Let your old man have his delusions, okay?” he said, voice lower now.

“Of course, Daddy.” She smiled up at him, love for him nearly bursting her chest.

“You need to come home more,” he lectured. “Your mother worries and then I have to hear it.”

“I know.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “I’m real proud of my little girl. A Paris fashion designer. What can you do with that in Decadence Creek?”

She sighed. She had a few ideas, but her father wouldn’t be the only one who would think she was crazy for wanting to open a custom dress shop in their tiny town.

“Are you happy there?”

She forced a smile. “Who wouldn’t be?”

“Hey, Montgomery!” her father called out to Chase. “Come dance with my girl. She’s too pretty to be standing on the sidelines tonight.”

Addison tensed as Chase walked over, a grin on his face.

He extended a hand. “May I?”

Her father nudged her forward. “I’d rather you dance with Chase than one of these young guys who might think they can try something with my baby.”

She put her hand in Chase’s and something electric zipped up her arm.

“It’s my pleasure, sir,” Chase said, nodding at her father.

Chase led her onto the dance floor, placed a warm hand on her back, and grinned.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she hissed.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Like this?” he asked, dropping his gaze to her mouth then down her body before meeting her gaze again.

She squeezed the hand that held hers. Not lightly. “He’ll kill you.”

He shook his head and pulled her against his chest. She looked over her shoulder and waved at her father, who winked at her before turning to speak with her brothers.

“He trusts me,” Chase said.

“He wouldn’t if he knew what you just did to me in your office.” She bit her lip and he pulled her closer still until she was pressed against the solid heat of his body.

“Relax,” he whispered the word into her ear, sending a zip of anticipation through her. “Think about what I’m going to do to you tonight.”

Her cheeks heated. “Not here,” she murmured, smiling at Aunt Sophie.

“Definitely here,” he said, his breath hot against her ear, his lips just barely brushing as he spoke. “I want you to spend the rest of the night thinking about what I’m going to do when I get you naked. I want it to consume your thoughts until I’m buried deep inside you again.”

She took in a shaky breath. “You seem pretty sure of yourself.”

“Oh, you’ll be begging by the time I’m done with you,” he promised. “I’m going to spread your legs and lick you until you beg.”

His voice was low and sent a few thousand volts of electricity through her. All that energy settled in a pulsing little ache between her thighs.

“Want to put a little room for Jesus between you and my sister, Montgomery?” a deep voice called behind them.

Harrison
. Dear God, Chase was whispering dirty things in her ear and her brother was right there.

“Not especially,” Chase called back with a grin.

Addy’s cheeks burned hotter. “They’re going to know,” she warned.

His mouth dipped to her ear again. “No one knows that I fucked you in my office.” His tongue flicked across her lobe. “Or that I can still taste you on my lips.”

She closed her eyes at the pleasure his words shot through her. “You are so bad.” A lame protest but all she could manage.

“You have no idea how bad I can be.” He’d danced them into a dark corner and his hand slipped under her dress, find the exposed, sensitive flesh between her legs.

He groaned and she shuddered as her brushed his thumb against her clit. “I’m going to taste you right here.” His mouth trailed down her neck and back to her ear as he removed his hand then discreetly smoothed her dress. “Think about me.”

He walked away, leaving her breathless and hot and—dear God—desperate for the reception to end.

Chase took a pull off his beer and thought—for the thousandth time tonight—about the feel of Addison’s lips under his, her curves pressed against his chest, her slick, wet heat as he slid inside her.

“Where’s Addison staying while she’s in town?” he asked the groom.

Claiming jetlag, Addison had slipped out of the reception shortly after their dance. Chase had stuck around, but now most of the guests had left.

“She’s in the guest house,” Harrison said, “because
God forbid
she have to stay in the main house with all the guys. It’s like Mom thinks being male is some kind of disease she couldn’t save her first four children from, and she lives in fear that her last child might catch it.”

Chase grunted. “Can’t blame her. Until Addison came along she was surrounded by men.”

Harrison nodded, then narrowed his eyes at Chase. “Do I want to know why you’re asking about where my
sister
is sleeping?”

Chase looked down at his beer and smiled a little. “Probably not,” he said, peeking up at Harrison.

Harrison’s brows drew together in a scowl. “That’s my little sister, asshole.”

Chase raised a brow. “She’s not so little anymore.”

Harrison took a drink. “I like you, so when I cut off your balls, I hope you won’t let it interfere with our friendship.”

Chase chuckled. “Leave my balls out of this. Your sister can take care of herself. I’m pretty sure I’m the one you should be worried for.”

Harrison studied Chase for a minute. “Watch yourself. My father has no idea she hit puberty, and his loyalty to you ends right about where his irrational protectiveness of her begins.”

The mention of Mr. Duval sobered Chase a bit.

Harrison nodded. “Okay, then.”

Across the dance floor, the bride was laughing with one of the remaining bridesmaids.

Chase nudged Harrison with his elbow. “You want to tell me why you aren’t getting your beautiful bride out of here and into a nice oversized bed somewhere?”

An emotion Chase didn’t recognize flicked across Harrison’s features. “We have the rest of our lives, right?”

“Hmm,” Chase said. “You know, they make a little blue pill that might help you with that attitude.”

Harrison grinned and punched Chase in the shoulder, but he could hardly take his eyes off the woman in white. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”

There was something going on here, Chase thought. Something other than a whirlwind romance. But he didn’t pry. “Congratulations, man,” he said, patting Harrison on the back. “I need to get out of here.”

Harrison winced. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to find my sister.”

Chase slid his bottle onto the bar. “No problem. I won’t tell you a thing.”

“Think real hard about how much you like them balls,” Harrison shouted after him.

Chase shoved his hands into his pockets and followed the lamp-lined walkway that lead across the estate.

He’d grown up across the river in a neighborhood politically-correct people liked to call “questionable.” There was no question his mom hardly made enough to scrape by, his neighbors sold meth, and by the time he was fifteen he’d stolen more cars than the average yuppie would own in a lifetime.

Chase had thought he was invincible in those days. He was good at what he did. Stealing cars, dismantling them, rebuilding them. Then he’d gotten busted, thrown in a jail cell and left to the mercy of a jury and an overworked public defender.

He’d never met Richard Duval before the day the man showed up to offer him the deal of a lifetime. Duval would pay for the best criminal lawyer he could find to get him a reduced sentence. And after Chase served his time, all he had to do was bring his skills to Decadence Creek and build custom rides for the rich man.

The deal had seemed too good to be true. Still did.

When Chase came to Decadence Creek, it felt like something straight out of Disney World. The town had 1500 people, one stoplight, one bar, one diner, and a convenience store. A quarter mile off Main Street was the Duval estate. If Decadence Creek felt like Disney World, the estate had felt like a magnified Ritz Carlton. With hot cars. Lucky asshole that he was, he got to work there.

He owed Duval everything, Chase thought, climbing up the steps to the guest house and knocking on the door. But he’d spent two years without Addy and hated every minute of it, wondered the whole time if she’d still be in town if he had let her stay in his bed that night.

Addy didn’t come to the door, and he knocked again.

She’d been twenty-one when he’d found her naked in his bed.

He’d slid between the sheets in the dark, and only realized she was there when she reached out and touched his face. He’d wanted to pull her against him, feel those bare curves against his hot skin.

“This can’t happen, Addison,” he’d told her. “If I touch you …” He shook his head. If he touched her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. “Let’s just talk about this in the morning.”

He’d made her leave, and the next morning she was on a plane to Paris.
Pursuing her dreams
, her father said.

Now, standing in the dark on the stoop of the guest house, he wanted more than one secret night. He already had more than he ever deserved, but he wanted it all, damn it.

He checked the knob, found it unlocked, and let himself in.

Addison shoved her arms into a plush terry cloth robe, ran her fingers through her hair and padded out to the little kitchen.

Chase lounged on a kitchen chair, nursing a beer. “I would have joined you in the shower,” he said, setting the beer on the table, “but I didn’t want to scare you.”

His shirt was unbuttoned, exposing the sun-darkened skin of his chest, the taught muscles across his abdomen.

She licked her lips. “I would have gotten over it.”

Reaching out, he tugged her toward him by the belt of her robe.

She reached for him, sliding her hands across the hard plains of his chest. She scraped her nails over his stomach.

He groaned. “Addison.” He cuffed a wrist in each hand, stopping her. “If you didn’t notice earlier, I lose my mind when you touch me, so I’m going to have to ask you not to do that.”

She raised a brow and tugged an arm free from his grasp.

“Not yet,” he murmured as she reached for him. He lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. “Be patient.”

“I’m not good at patient,” she pouted.

He toyed with the knot, in no rush to untie her. “You made
me
wait two years.”

She opened her mouth with a smart reply—something about him kicking her out of his bed—but he slid a hand under the robe and she lost the words.

“You were dodging me after our dance.”

“You know how this town is,” she said, struggling to concentrate as he lazily trailed his fingers up her thigh. “Word of scandal moves faster than Daddy’s Derby horses.”

He shrugged, tugged her closer still so she was standing between his legs. “So let them talk.” His fingers had almost run out of thigh to climb. If she moved, even an inch, his hand would be right where she wanted it.

She kept her hands to her sides, forcing herself to be still. “Don’t be shy now.”

He grinned up at her, leaned forward, and pulled the knot on her robe loose with his teeth. Dropping the tie to the floor, he ran his hands over her exposed torso, still damp from her shower. His rough palms flattened against her abdomen. He traced a circle around her navel with his thumb, sending goose bumps across her skin.

His eyes grew darker and her breathing quickened. When he replaced his thumb with his hot, open mouth, she moaned. His mouth, his tongue, around her navel, lower. He ran his tongue up her belly and licked the underside of her breast.

She grabbed his shoulders, and he growled softly, gently repositioning her hands by her sides.

“Not yet,” he said, voice gravely.

He pressed his mouth against her hipbone, nipped that sensitive spot with his teeth, ran his hot, open mouth over it.

She trembled and fisted her hands as he trailed his mouth across her pelvis to treat the other side to the same delicious torture. The hot ache of pleasure grew between her legs. She wanted him there—his fingers, his tongue, his thick cock.

His hands slid around to her ass and pulled her down so she sat in his lap, straddling him.

When he found her breast with his hot mouth, she whimpered. Heat, pleasure, and desire all shot through her. She rocked her hips and found him, erect and thick through his pants.

He slid her robe halfway down her arms as he went to the next breast—sucking, licking, teasing her nipple.

He raised his head, breathing heavily against her neck. “I have waited too long to touch you, too long to taste you,” he said, nipping at her lobe, “to be satisfied with a quick fuck against my office door.”

She tilted her head to give him better access as he alternately ran teeth and tongue along the column of her neck.

He stood suddenly, holding her weight against him and letting her robe fall to the floor.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and nodded toward the bedroom.

He chuckled, then surprised her by setting her on the breakfast bar. “Lean back,” he commanded, his voice husky.

She propped herself on her elbows, and he spread her legs, looking so long and hard at her sex that she squirmed and shifted to close them.

He stopped her, work-roughened hands high against her inner thighs. “You’re too beautiful for words.”

Some too big, too unexpected emotion tightened her throat, and she couldn’t respond.

Suddenly, he propped her legs on her shoulders and slid his hands under her ass. Then his wet mouth was on her, hot and greedy against her sex. She drew her knees up instinctively, opening herself to him and he explored her with his tongue. He teased her clit. Licked, sucked, kissed. His beard scraped lightly against the sensitive skin, heightening her pleasure.

She wanted him inside her, filling her. She wanted him kissing her. She wanted him to never stop what he was doing with his lips and tongue and, sometimes, the light scrape of teeth.

When she didn’t think she could take any more, he slid two fingers inside her, and she flew apart, rocking her hips as the orgasm tore through her.

When she opened her eyes, he was smiling down at her. He scooped her off the counter and carried her to the bedroom.

She sank into the down comforter and he lowered himself over her. Sliding his unbuttoned shirt down his arms, she pressed her mouth against his bare chest, raking her teeth along his hard pectorals.

He threw his shirt aside and discarded his pants.

“Protection,” she murmured, but he was already sliding on a condom.

When he lowered himself, she arched her hips, desperate to feel him inside her. He didn’t rush. He sat cradled between her thighs and cupped her face with his big hands.

His eyes went soft, and her heart tripped as he ran his thumb tenderly along her jaw line. “I’m sorry if I hurt you that night.”

She put her finger to his lips. She couldn’t have this conversation. Not now.

He watched her, his gaze never leaving hers as he entered her. He watched her as he moved inside her, breaking eye contact only to trail kisses along her jaw or across her collarbone.

She wrapped her legs around him, moving with and against him and letting the pressure build. When her orgasm wouldn’t hold back any longer, she dug her nails into his back and felt his release as she pulsed around him.

After, as she inhaled deeply of his scent, brushed her lips over the hot, damp skin of his neck she wondered at her stubborn heart. Still so in love after all this time.